The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, today (May 21) visited the Inland Revenue Department, the Treasury, and the Census and Statistics Department, which are under the purview of the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, to understand their operations after full resumption of public services.
 
     Accompanied by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Mr Richard Wong, Mr Hui first visited the Document Processing Centre of the Inland Revenue Department where he observed the processing of tax returns and e-filing of employers' returns. Since the end of last year, the department had started to accept payments of taxes through the Faster Payment System to provide the public with another convenient means to settle tax payments. Mr Hui noted that arrangements are being made to extend the service to other government departments. He also toured the Business Registration Office to understand its overall operation and the counter service arrangements for business registrations under the COVID-19 epidemic, which helped control crowd gatherings and reduce the risk of virus transmission.
 
     Mr Hui then continued his visit at the Treasury in the company of the Director of Accounting Services, Mr Charlix Wong. Mr Hui chatted with the frontline staff of various divisions to learn about their services, including the work progress of the dedicated team in preparing for dispersing $10,000 under the cash payout scheme. He expressed gratitude to the staff for their contribution to the implementation of different relief measures that helped tide the public over the economic difficulties.
 
　　In his last stop, Mr Hui, accompanied by the Permanent Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Financial Services), Ms Michelle Li, visited the Census and Statistics Department. He was briefed by the Commissioner for Census and Statistics, Ms Marion Chan, on the work of the department and its preparation for the 2021 Population Census.
 
     Mr Hui said, "Conducted once in every 10 years, the population census aims to obtain up-to-date benchmark information on the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population and on its geographical distribution. Such information is vital to the Government for planning and policy formulation. I call on the community to give support as they will help the Government draw up a blueprint for Hong Kong's future development."
 
     Before ending his tour, Mr Hui visited the Service Centre on Trade Statistics and Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing Centre, where he chatted with frontline staff to take a closer look at their daily work.
 
     Mr Hui said, "I really appreciate colleagues for going the extra mile to maintain public services in the past few months, and for their efforts in handling jobs with the greatest flexibility amid the pandemic. In the course of economic recovery, I appeal to colleagues to create a more business-friendly environment for the benefit and convenience of the public, by means such as adopting a wider use of technologies, putting in place more competitive tax arrangements or removing procedural barriers, which will help our people cope with the economic downturn."

Ends/Thursday, May 21, 2020
Issued at HKT 18:18

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